


Reaching Out to Touch

by Reptile_Wing



Series: Reach Out and Touch [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: I watched the show WAY too much when I was writing this thing, M/M, No comic books were hurt in the creation of this fic, Please do NOT post this on another site, Squint and this one-shot could be just friends OR something more, Story originally written up in 2011, TMNT are owned by Nickelodeon, These characters are NOT mine - I'm just playing with them, Usagi belongs to Stan Sakai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reptile_Wing/pseuds/Reptile_Wing
Summary: While traveling with Gennosuke, Usagi seeks out a good spot to have a quick conversation with Leonardo.
Relationships: Leonardo/Miyamoto Usagi
Series: Reach Out and Touch [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938058
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Reaching Out to Touch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [onnawufei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/onnawufei/gifts).



> I'm not sure if Onnawufei still remembers any of this, but this story comes from a Tweet conversation about Leo and Usagi giving each other swords for Christmas, and was further Mused by the state of this ship from the 2003 cartoon.
> 
> Personally, I can see the pair as a couple of the absolute best friends ever known to literature ... just as much as I can see them as 'liking' each other.
> 
> I hope, in the long run, that this one-shot (that ended up creating like 2 other stories I have yet to post) can entertain.  
> Let me know if I did so!

The leaves were turning golden as a chill breeze ruffled his thickened white fur. With the sun setting soon Miyamoto Usagi sighed, popping a hand into his right pocket and drawing out a thin contraption roughly the size of his palm. He was just about to push the small power button on the bottom of it when Gennosuke caught up to him.

"What's that, Long Ears?" Gen asked, as if simply from habit, while coming up alongside the Rabbit. "And how much can we get for it?"

Usagi's dark eyes widened momentarily, fingers contracting to grip the small device tightly to his chest. "This is none of your concern, Gen," he answered curtly. "Leonardo-san gave it to me on our last visit." The Turtle had called it a 'shell cell', if he remembered correctly. Usagi wasn't sure what to make of the name, but that was immaterial; Leonardo had given this to him. Now his eyes narrowed, trained on the Rhino's money-grubbing gray fingers, and his own white ones sheltered the object next to his heart. Out of Gen's reach. "It is not for sale."

"Hey, did I say anything about selling it?" Gen replied, palms facing his friend in a stance Usagi knew all too well.

"Yes," came the blunt reply, "and this is mine, Gen. There is no 'we' here."  
For a moment he was silent, mind faraway, until a pair of infant tokage lizards scampered past him. The Rabbit smirked at the sight. Yes, not here at all. Now he really needed to get rid of Gen and be alone! But how? He slowed his steps, allowing the Rhino to gain ground on him as he thought. And then a smile spread across his face as he reached into his other pocket to retrieve his coin string. Quickly he removed 3 of the gold coins and looked up at his friend. "Gen, take these," he said, tossing them to Gennosuke without a second thought, sure in the fact that his money-loving-friend would not let the coins fall to the hard earth beneath their feet. "Go ahead of me to the next village, and pay for two rooms at the inn."

"What about you, Long Ears?" Gen raised an eyebrow, puzzled even as he began rubbing the coins between his stubby gray fingers. It wasn't like the Ronin to part with money this easily. Not when it involved him anyway.

"I'll catch up," Usagi uttered, thumb already poking at the device to turn it on. "Now go!"

"Alright . . . alright," the Rhino muttered, turning back to the road. "I'll see you at the inn, then, Long Ears!"

"I'm sure I will, Gennosuke," Usagi remarked, touching an icon on the object's 'screen' that looked like a small green shell. As he began looking for a place to sit the iPod immediately dialed Leonardo's own. No doubt Donatello had reprogrammed them, seeing as Usagi was unlikely to have anyone else he wanted to talk to.

The forest he and Gen had been passing through was thick, the shadows beginning to get heavy almost everywhere - even over the pathway itself. Still, with some momentary prodding the Ronin found a small clearing with a reasonably sized rock to rest on. The tokage trying to sun themselves were not happy when he shooed them off, but forgot it soon enough when a voice issued from the object in his hand, causing them to 'eep' in curiosity.

Leonardo had just been training, well doing his extra training, when a chirp issued from his shell cell. A small smile graced his lips before he slid his katana into their sheath and grabbed the device. "Moshi moshi, Usagi-san," the ninja uttered. "It looks like you have friends."

Usagi sighed, batting a pair of tokage off his shoulders. "They are hardly friends, Leonardo-san. They are merely irritated I have taken over their sunning rock."

"I hope you have had a nice day," the Turtle remarked, sitting down on the floor of the dojo as he spoke.

Usagi smiled wistfully. "I have been to see Jotaro, so it was a nice day," he admitted. "I hope to introduce you to him someday, Leonardo-san. He is a fine student, and I think a sparing match with you would teach him much."

"He's already going up against adults?" Leonardo uttered, an eyebrow rising. "That is very impressive, Usagi-san."  
It was also good to see the light that came into the Rabbit's eyes when he spoke of his son, regardless of the fact that the boy did not know his 'uncle' was truly his father. Leo could see that Usagi cared for Jotaro no less than any parent should. He could not imagine the heartache felt by having to remain separate from his own child, though. Leo thought it would break a person's heart in two.

"He is," Usagi responded, chuckling. "I am endlessly amused by their faces when he does so. They do not seem to imagine that the size of the warrior is irrelevant when true swordsmanship is involved."

Leonardo nodded. Being smaller than many of his own opponents hadn't stopped him from winning many a fight. "When is the next time you will get to see him, Usagi-san?" The shadows around the Rabbit were deepening, making it a bit harder to see his face now.

"Not for another fortnight at least, Leonardo," Usagi said sadly, "Lord Noriyuki has contracted with Gen and I to guard a provision of food on its way to an outlying province; the journey there and back will take at least two weeks." His head dipped and the Turtle heard a surprised 'eep' before the purring began to thrum across their connection like television static.

"I wish you luck on your journey then, Usagi-san," Leonardo replied. A part of him wanted to ask if he could come with - if they had need of another pair of hands or eyes - but he had his own responsibilities here at home. As it was, he would have to end this conversation soon anyway so that he could prepare tea for Master Splinter.

Usagi seemed to feel his friend's unhappiness spreading like the clouds he now saw passing overhead. "I wish you could come," he said lightly, sighing. It surprised him when Leonardo coughed. "What? Is something wrong?"

"No - no," Leo responded quickly, waving his hand in front of the shell cell's camera as he attempted to calm himself. His face was warm, and he was afraid any sort of blush might betray his deeper thoughts. "I was just thinking about how I would have enjoyed going with you, if it weren't for my duties. Here. At home."

"Perhaps next time, my friend," Usagi murmured, hoping that the Turtle did not see the answering blush on his own face. "I . . . I would like it very much if you were to visit me here, so that I could show you around."

"And so that I could meet Jotaro," Leo added happily. "We'll have to try and plan it out, so that the others know I'm going and can have things in order."

"Yes," Usagi said quickly, petting the dozing tokage on his lap. "That way I can get rid of Gen for a longer period of time. I think I will very much need a vacation from his gambling once this contract is finished."

"Yeah, but at least there he's safe from Mikey. He's still quite sore about Gen taking his Silver Sentry comics after all."

Usagi chuckled. "Michelangelo hasn't quite learned that one must keep one eye on one's valuables and one eye on Gen himself."

"I'll be sure to pass that along," Leo told him, a smirk back on his face. "For now I must go make Master Splinter's morning tea."

"Please say hello to your sensei for me."

"I will," Leo said, a smile flicking across his face. Though it faded from his mouth, it stayed in his eyes. "Oyasumi, Usagi," he said, waving impulsively to his friend.

"Oyasumi, Leo," the Rabbit replied, breaking off the connection.

It was only when Leonardo was pouring hot tea into Splinter's favorite mug that it hit him: Usagi hadn't said 'san' at the end of his name, nor had he used his full name. He'd said 'Leo'. The revelation caused Leo's heart to skip a couple beats before he could steady himself with a deep breath. As he took the tea in to his father, a smirk lit Leo's face that not even the Purple Dragons could have knocked off.

**Author's Note:**

> Anxiety is a miserable thing.  
> I made a promise, once, to post this on here. Better late than never, I hope.


End file.
